


An Unexpected Friendship

by VioletInc



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, I like the idea of the Holy Three working together, may possibly continue?, only includes 2/3 of the Holy Three so far
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletInc/pseuds/VioletInc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Link is hungry and frustrated. Just as he sits to remedy at least one of two current issues, a new friend appears behind him. Turns out they're both in need of some trustworthy company, for once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unexpected Friendship

He knocked an arrow into his bow and let it loose. Upon making contact with the wooden floors of the moblin party, the arrow exploded and every monster there was sent flying. Those who managed to survive the blast did not survive for long. 

Link walked cautiously up to the corpses of the moblins. Typically they kept their gold and spoils to themselves or in a chest somewhere near the center of their camp. The blast might have made it harder to find, but it would most assuredly be there. He put away his bow and instead took out a couple of throwing knives. He held them, one in each hand, at the ready. Link would not be surprised again by a monster playing dead; they were smarter than they looked, the beasts. 

Link eventually found what he was looking for, and opened the metal chest to reveal at least a hundred gold (one of the larger sums of money he had found out of a moblin camp) and some more arrows. It was a surprisingly sparse cache for a camp of this size, but not entirely unusual. 

There might’ve been more chests around, but the sun would be going down soon, and the cow the beasts had been cooking looked good. He could always look later. He grabbed what gold was in the chest and shoved it into a pouch dangling at his side. 

Link pulled out a dish from one of the bags on his back and practically ran to the spit the meat was being cooked on. Using one of his throwing knives to carve out a good sized portion of the beef, he dropped it in the bowl and set it down to reach for a different pouch on his other side. A few seasonings he kept with him here and there, a little more roasting over the fire, and Link sat down with a satisfying meal. Not as good as it could have been, though, with the dead moblins around him, but he was too tired to go further. Along with that, he had been out of food all day, and the past week had given him no chances for hunting or visiting towns.

So, amidst the carnage, Link sighed heavily, and began to peel his gear off, throwing them haphazardly to his sides. His muscles seemed to breathe a heavy sigh of thanks for the relief, and set his bowl down in front of him to lay backwards to look at the sky for a moment. 

Hero… That was what that voice had called him. 

Was he truly a hero? Could he be? What had he done to deserve that kind of a title? 

All Link could remember was waking up in that strange room and hearing the voice. He couldn’t help but feel slightly upset about that. 

Normal people had families, friends, people who cared about them. As far as Link knew, he had a disembodied woman’s voice, and himself. Any town that he had visited since waking up had had no knowledge of him. He was practically a nonentity. He didn’t exist to anyone but himself, it seemed. 

His hand searched blindly for the bag nearest him, and he pushed inside to find the strange tablet he had found on his way out of the room he had woken up in not so long ago, now. 

Sheikah slate? What did that even mean? Who the hell were the Sheikah? Why did no one know who they were?

“Nothing makes sense…” He muttered to himself. He sat up and threw it as hard as he could across the fire. He didn’t understand, and the frustration of seeing all of these confusing things combine in front of him with no immediate hope for a solution was giving him a very unwelcome headache. 

I promise, you will receive your answers in time, hero… 

Link jumped to his feet. There was the voice again. Where had it come from? It had been more distant this time, it was so faint. 

His eyes rested on the tablet across from him.

Could it have come from…?

“Hail, traveler! Mind if I join you?” 

Link spun around towards the new voice, producing two more throwing knives from pouches tied to his legs and aiming them at the source. “How did you sneak up on me? I didn’t hear you coming.” 

“My apologies. I mean you no harm; I was just wandering, and I wondered if you might have some food to spare.” The man raised a pouch tied to his waist, his other hand scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. “My provisions ran out early.” 

Link stared at him for a long while before putting his knives away. He found he could typically sense someone’s true intentions long before they made themselves known- another mystery to add to the mountain of things he didn’t understand but took advantage of anyway. 

“Sure. Have at it.” 

The man bowed in thanks, just before his stomach growled loud in impatience. He moved forward and cut himself a meager slice of the meat, but Link motioned for him to take more when the man looked to him for approval. He nodded in thanks, and Link stood to go pick up the tablet before he forgot about it. Better it caught someone’s attention when he still had the ability to reach for it himself than when he wasn’t looking at it. 

As he sat down again, he noticed the man was already eating. 

“You’re not going to prepare it at all? Did you put any spices on it or anything?” Link looked in horror as confusion clouded the man’s yellow eyes. 

“Uh… No? I don’t have any on me.” Link took the bowl from his hands and immediately started sprinkling and slicing. 

“Now there is a crime that is unforgivable. What’s your name?” He asked, eyeing the stranger. 

“Ganondorf. I hail from the deserts to the west. Though feel free to call me Ganon for short. In fact, please do- I prefer Ganon.” He chuckled to himself before continuing watching Link grumpily throw the bowl over the fire. “There’s not much reason to cook out there. No herbs to make spices, nor any other reason to eat than to simply survive.” 

“That sounds,” Link acknowledged, “Like a life not quite worth living.” He turned to look at his guest with a raised eyebrow. “What do you do for fun out there? Breathe?” 

Ganondorf laughed. “We spar. Or we tell stories. Or… Plenty of other things. Just because a culture does not enjoy the same things you do does not make it any less than yours.” 

“I assure you, that was nowhere near what I was implying.” Link laughed. “I only meant that I simply cannot imagine a life where one enjoys bland food.” He handed Ganondorf his “fixed” bowl, and watched as he took a bite. 

“It’s not bad, I’ll give you that.” Ganondorf sighed. “So what are you doing out here all alone, anyway- if you don’t mind my asking? And what happened here? Did you do this all on your own?” 

“First,” Link started, taking the time to bite into some of his food and swallow, “Hell if I know.” Ganondorf laughed loud and long. “And, yes. Bomb arrows are handy little suckers. But what are you doing here? I’ve never seen a Hylian look so tan.”

“Impressive indeed.” Ganondorf smiled. He shifted, scooting closer to the fire before tilting his head back to look at the sky. The sun had gone down, and the stars were beginning to come out. “It seems we both are wanderers. You’re correct though, I am not Hylian- I am Gerudo. All I know is that I need to learn more. What is the difference between other lands and mine, beyond the obvious. I need to experience these things for myself.” 

“Wait, so you’ve never been beyond the desert? Why?”

“Correct. As I am the only male Gerudo born in a hundred years, I am their King…” Ganondorf paused and looked at Link with a crinkled grin. “Or, I will be their King, anyway. For now I am still their Prince. As you can imagine, that comes with some heavy duties, as well as expectations. Those expectations typically have little to do with life outside of the Gerudo Desert.” 

Link whistled. “Prince, huh? That’s impressive.” He tossed him a suspicious look, taking another bite of his food. “So how’d you get them to let you leave sans guards?” 

“Oh, I didn’t.” Link choked on a piece of meat. “Don’t worry, I threw them off somewhere around the start of the plateaus. Gave them a shadow version of myself to follow- looks exactly like me, and lasts as long as I want it to. The trick is to not expend all of my magic trying to prank them hard enough for them to get the picture that it isn’t the real me.” 

Link swallowed and gave a few chuckles of his own. “That’s pretty devious. I wish I could watch.” 

“Oh, it's hilarious. Right now it’s in the process of carving the letters of “fooled you” into individual trees.” Ganondorf smirked as Link laughed. “So what about you? What’s your story?” 

Link shrugged. “I don’t have one, honestly. Or, not one I can remember.” He turned to face Ganon, his expression hard to read, as the other man noticed. “I woke up in a cave in a bathtub-like thing, heard a voice calling my name, found clothes waiting for me, and a task given to me that I honestly don’t even understand. No knowledge of where I came from, anyone who might’ve cared about me, nothing.” 

“That sounds hard.” 

Link shrugged. “It’d be easier if I weren’t alone.” 

Ganondorf turned to look at Link as he set his bowl down in front of him to lay down again. After a while, Ganon smiled. 

“Would you be opposed to the idea of having a traveling companion?” 

“What?” Link stared at Ganon as if he had grown a third head. 

“I could come with you. Whatever your task is, I could help you figure it out.” 

“You don’t even know my name; and besides, don’t you have your whole “discover the difference between world cultures” thing to do?” 

“I believe I’ve already given you my name, but,” Ganon reach out his hand for Link to shake, “I am Prince Ganondorf of the Gerudo. Let me worry about my task- I have a feeling I shall learn plenty along the way. What’s your name?” 

Link sat for a few moments, dumbfounded before he eventually sat up and took Ganondorf’s hand and shook. “Link is the only name I know. Any surname I might have had is lost on me.” 

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Link. You look Hylian, why not go by something common by their terms?” 

Link smiled. “I guess I might as well. How about Eldred? Not exactly common, but I like it.” 

“If that is what you wish to be called. What does it mean?” 

“I’m not sure, but it feels familiar, almost.” 

Ganon nodded. “Then Link Eldred is what you shall be, but I believe I’ll call you friend. Where are you headed next?” 

Link grimaced. “That’s the question of the day- er, night, isn’t it?” He sighed. He didn’t suppose he’d really have to show this, but his intuition hadn’t been wrong yet, and he felt this man could be trusted. He pulled the Sheikah Slate from under his knapsack. He handed it to Ganondorf. 

As Ganon attempted to take it from Link’s hand, however, it felt as though his hand were on fire, and he pulled it back hissing in pain. “Ow! What the hell?!” Link snickered, and Ganon twisted his neck to look at him. “You did that on purpose?!” 

“No, no, I swear! I had no idea that would happen- I’ve never tried to let anyone touch it before.” 

“Then why are you laughing at me?” 

“I had no idea royalty could swear like that.” 

Ganon snorted. “Anything’s possible when the guards aren’t around.” 

“Amen to that, friend.” Link sighed. The night was still young, and the fire was still surprisingly strong. And yet, he stood up and went to go grab some wood from the shambles of the moblin camp. The fire from the explosion had mostly died out on it’s own. Link stomped down whatever embers were left and plucked up as many pieces of wood remained.

When he thought he had enough, he moved back and sat as close to the fire as he dared. He placed them in the flames gently, one at a time. 

“I guess I’ll take first watch, then.” Link declared. Ganondorf nodded at him in thanks, and Link tried to push down the hesitant relief that he’d have someone to talk to for a while. Ganon seemed to be okay, and he couldn’t really make himself feel bad about having him here. Link sighed and readied himself for the long night ahead of him. 

Despite that, though, there was also a part of him that felt like he had known Gannon before. That same part was still slightly suspicious. It made him feel weird about trusting him, and Link had to admit that this whole situation happened fairly quickly. And yet, despite that, Link felt he had the potential to become a great friend. He brushed the feeling to the side for the moment, though, with a silent promise to himself that he would observe Gannon some more later. For the moment, he needed to focus on keeping watch.

**Author's Note:**

> As I put in the tags, this would be a cool thing to continue, if only I knew where to lead it. It'd just make my day/life to see Ganon/Link/Zelda working together on something, in a situation where trust was formed early on, with no intentions of betrayal. But until then, just consider this some much needed practice. I hope you enjoyed- thanks for reading!


End file.
